Fred Cameron June 30, 1934
Unlike many of the veteran fire fighters to die in the line of duty before him, Fred Cameron only enjoyed a short seven-year career with the Toronto Fire Department before responding to his final alarm. On June 29, 1934, he responded from the Richmond St. Firehall to a small fire at 525 Queen St. East at 9:15 p.m. After returning to the hall shortly after midnight, he complained to fellow fire fighters of not feeling well and collapsed soon after. Though the TFD physician Dr. L. R. Hill was called for medical attention, it was too late, as Fire Fighter Cameron had died from an apparent heart attack a few minutes before the doctor’s arrival. Cameron had been
to many fires over his relatively short career as a fire fighter, including a fatal rooming house fire at 193 Jarvis Street one year earlier, where he saved one of the occupants. After attempting to alert others, the wife of the property owner had made several trips back into the structure to try and save her personal belongings. When she became overcome by smoke on her fourth trip back into the property, Fred Cameron was there to carry her out of the building to safety. The Richmond St. Firehall that Cameron called home, closed after 40 operational years in 1935, making him the last member of the Toronto Fire Department to die while working out of the hall.
Platoon Chief William Culling January 20, 1953
William Culling’s final moments were spent in the firehall that had become his second home, as he worked what would be his final shift at Toronto’s Adelaide St. Station. When working in the evening, the 66-year-old Platoon Chief collapsed before eventually passing away while at Toronto General Hospital. In the many years he worked prior to achieving the rank of Platoon Chief, Culling was recognized as a dedicated fire fighter that was often instrumental in saving lives and property. As a fire fighter, he had received recognition from Fire Chief George Sinclair for his bravery in rescuing a woman at a River St. house fire. Years later, as a District Chief, he was an integral part of a fire call where the fire fighters under his command successfully rescued four occupants from the third floor of a Shaw St. house fire. In 1952, as a Platoon Chief, he witnessed a boy being hit by a truck and though ultimately unsuccessful, he and a fire fighter immediately began to administer first aid at the scene of the accident. Even one week before his death, he had prevented a
serious fire when he saw smoke and called in an alarm while on his way to a Dundas St. house for a separate investigation. It seemed that no matter what his rank or task at hand, he was always getting involved and helping out in any way he could. Three years before his final shift at Adelaide St., he also played an important role in a large Thornhill Village fire that destroyed several businesses. The fire came three days before a new fire protection and water supply system was to be implemented, and required mutual aid from several fire departments outside of Thornhill. Not uncommon for the times, fire fighters from Toronto Fire Department were sent to assist with fire fighting operations under the command of then District Chief William Culling and they eventually contained the blaze. As a 43-year veteran at the time of his death, he was not only one of the oldest TFD members, but also the third highest-ranking officer on the department. Survived by his wife, Elizabeth and son, William, he was interred at St. John’s Norway Cemetery.
Earl Fraser February 1, 1953
As he left his home at 362 Soudan Avenue on the morning of January 26, 1951, Fire Fighter Earl Fraser proceeded to the Yorkville Firehall for what would be his most difficult shift yet. On this day, it would not be the emergency scenes that would pose the most danger to him and his fellow fire fighters, but the response on Toronto’s busy streets. With Pumper 10 dispatched to a fire on Bleecker Street, the 34 year-old Fraser boarded the apparatus along with fire fighters Irvin Wyley, Arthur Hanson and Captain William Hamilton. Proceeding through the intersection of Yonge and Bloor, the apparatus violently collided with a coal truck. While coal littered the streets, both Arthur Hanson and
Earl Fraser were suffering from serious injuries; Hanson’s skull was fractured and Fraser received back, head and leg injuries as he was thrown from the truck. Though the coal truck driver, as well as Captain Hamilton and Fire Fighter Wyley escaped without significant injuries, Fraser would remain plagued by health issues for the years that followed. By 1953, he had been seriously ill for several months, due to complications from the accident and eventually succumbed to his injuries while at Toronto East General Hospital. He was born in Toronto and attended Riverdale Collegiate before marrying his wife, Zelda with whom he had a son, Kenneth and two daughters, Carol and Shirley.
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